St. Landry democrat., 1887-07-28
WHO IS OLD SATAN :?
FACTS ABOUT DEMONS AND DEVILS
AMONG CHRISTIANS AND
HEATHENS.

kudG HTtS lDc l'uSbH Oh opulHcuS uuHt
I'm the Arctic sky, and from his horrid hair
-s4akeS pcstllonce and war
lParadise Lost, Book II, T07-11.
Whoever or whatever the devil may
he he is a most important personage
History, poetry, romance, mythology
aud art furnish abundant evidence OF
Che truth of this statement. The grand
est Of epics, the greatest of paintings
the most famous of theatrical plays, all
have him as their central figure. Not
80 speak OF his notable achievements as
told in the Books of Books, which have
been the theme of theological discussion
from time immemorial, his acts, or acts
.fnputed to him, are recorded in count
less volumes.
The devil made Milton famous, and
contributed iu no small degree to the
vcnOwn of Shakespeare: Mephistophe-
les, who was either the devil or his
agent, is the hero OF Gnthe's master
piece; while the place where the devil
is supposed to abide was to Virgil and
Dante the foundation upon which their
5nESeS built a structure 'more enduring
than brass, more splendid than gems of
ihe Orient"
II WISH" said a downtown book
seller to a reporter the other day, ''that
the devil would follow the example set
by some of our public men and write his
autobiography. Any publisher would
give Il liberal sum for the copyright and
u handsome royalty on every volume
sold. We know nothing about the
levil-tliat is, nothing definite His
history would be one of the most enter
tanning ever written. Who would not
like to know when Satan was born, who
his parents were, how he passed his boy
mood, what were the achievements of
his ripper years, and all the other facts
shat make up standard biography? ?
Defoe was the only writer who ever at
tempted such Il work, and he could
scarcely be considered an authority on
the subject
The theme is vast one; but any au-
5hor Except bis Satanic Majesty him
s8lf) attempting the work suggested
would be bewildered at the outset by
The necessity of solving a number of
difficult questions like the following:
ss there one devil only Is he omni-
lpresent, omniscient, or is he limited to
'1s own domain and restricted in his
powers 7 In short, who and what is the
devil, and What is his nature and char
acter !?
We have the best of grounds for be-
iieving that the devil was once respecta-
BILE. At least he kept good company
and was not then described as mis-
Chief maker. "Now there was day.
states the Book of Job (chap. l., VII,
''wlen the sons of God came to present
tIiemse Ives before the Lord and Satan
came also among them" He was asked
going to and fro in the earth. and from
walking up aud down it," That is, he
was a tramp. He couldn't have follow
ed the road long or his companions
would certainly have heen ashamed of
him.
Job was a rich man and maintained
establishment; he was also
apright and honest. Satan tried to con-
vert him to his theories, but Job could |
not be moved either to swear or lie |
and though his patience was nightly
tried by the adversary, be grew both 10 I
wisdom and strength and lived 40
years after.
The Satan of the Old Testament does
not appear to have been being of great
power. He was frat servant, then
prosecutor, then q confidence man.
Popular ideas of his character are drawn
from Millions terrible pictures of him.
and not from the scriptural record.
There. were other devils than Satan,
however. The latter appears to have
been accorded the position of chief of
slte tribe and ruler of the realm Of dark
iess as soon as he had demonstrated his
capacity for the place. The date of his
to power is not at hand.
Moses records that idolatrous people,
wen in his time, sacrificed to devils
md not to God" Whether all the
lewis Of the earth were descended
rom one common ancestor or not some
uture historian must determine The |
erm devil III this article is used as |
5urns used it, to designate the chief or {
eading spirit-the Evil One:
o thou! whatever title suit thee
Auld HOrnie, Satan Nick or Clootie
VIVA, i'll yon cavern grim and so0tie /
Closed under matches
1pairges about the birthstone cOotie
To scaud poor wretches. i(
Possibly poor Burns, deceived by the |
aperstitions of his country, libeled the {
oor devil. Certainly, spattering seetll- :
lg brInlstone. this way and that, ap- y
ears like very undignified occupation t
Or a parsonage Of the devils reputed
Tealth and power; and we all agree
18th the poet when lie says, in effect,
nat scalding poor chaps ito hear them
lueal" must be very dull amusement
1r Old Nick. g
The devils of the New Testament d
ere demons or evil spirits, such as have 4
zisted from the earliest times among d
u peoples. Those which we're cast out C
Mary Magdalen, and those of the c
ian Legion which caused the swine to c
ommit suicide, were mere servants or il
nps of Satan. But it was the Master h
evil himself who tried for forty days a
} get the Savior into his power, as is c
corded in Luke, chapter iv. K
MoncGre %. Conway, the only modern q
ritter who has attempted anything like a
history OF devils. says that demons are a